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(NoMOdeL) J. T. WARING.

ART or FULLING 0R FBLTING HAT BODIES, 6m. No. 355,041. Patented Dec. 28,v 1886.

Wine sses n PETERS. PhoXn-Ufnagrapher. Washinglon. n. c,

PATENT Fries.

JOHN T. whnme, or YONKERS, NEW YORK.

ART OF FULL ING OR FELTING HAT-BODIES, 800.

$PECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 355,041, dated December 28, 1886.

Application filed June 24, 1886. Serlal No. 206,070. (No model.)

which the hat-bodies or other articles are subjected is analogous to the action of a fullingmill, or, in other words, the useful effect of felting or fulling is performed by beaters operating upon a mass of articles undertreatment.

In carrying out my invention I may employ, in combination with a bed or surface on which the articles are supported, a beater operating to rapidly deliver blows of definite range and force upon the mass of articles; and one feature of my invention consists in varying by adjustment the distance from the bed at which the blows are delivered, whereby the beater will be caused to terminate its movement toward the bed at a less distance from the bed as the mass of articles becomes reduced in size by the felting or fulling operation, or at a distance from the bed, according to the size of the mass of articles under treatment. During such beating operation the mass of articles is preferably confined at the ends by abutments, so as to control or prevent the elongation of the mass of articles, and the aforesaid abutments may be arranged to move or rotate with the mass of articles, so as to prevent abrasion between the articles and the abutments by which they are confined. The mass of articles may be subjected to the blows of the beater while supported upon a stationary bed; but in order to present the articles more effectively to the action of the beater, or, in other words, to constantly change the surface on which the beater strikes, I prefer to support the mass of articles directly upon a moving or traveling surface, which may consist of an apron having a progressive motion over the bed. The principal portion of the felting operation is also performed on the hat-bodies while in a free or loose state and not confined in a bag or cloth, and I thereby afford facility for the ready working out from the fur or fiber having felting qualities the hair which has little or no felting property.

The improvement in the art of felting hatbodies, which is hereinabove briefly referred to, is more fully hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have represented a machine or mill in which my invention may be carried out, and which in itself forms the subject of my pending application, Serial No. 206,224, filed June 24, 1886, and is not claimed as a part of my present invention.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a sectionalele Vation in a plane lengthwise of the bed and beater. Fig. 2 is a transverse section, and Fig.

3 an end view, of the machine. Fig. 4 is'i sectional view, upon a larger scale, of one end posed of a boX or trough, O, which extends between upright standards or end frames, D, and is supported by beams or girders 0', resting at their ends in pockets d on the end frames, D; or the beams or girders may be secured simply to flanges on said end frames. .Within the box or trough O are longitudinal and cross ribs 0 c, secured together or notched one into the other, and forming a proper support for a sheet-metal lining, c and spaces below said lining for the free access of water and steam thereto. The metal lining 0 may be of copper tinnedon its surface, or of other smooth metal. The lining is not continuous across the bottom of the bed, but a longitudinal slot or opening,

0 is left therein, and in this slot or opening is arranged a pipe, 0, perforated at intervals 1 in its upper surface for the delivery of steam or water directly upward above the surface of the bed to permeate the mass of articles thereon. At theend of the pipe 0' and outside the trough O are branches 0 c severally provided with valves 0 0 for controlling the flow of steam or water through the pipe The trough 0 also has an outlet-cock, c, for drawing off water, leaving the-bed dry, or with the water rising therein to any height'desired.

Extending across the bed A and following its curvature is an endless apron or cloth, E, which is important, though not indispensable, to certain features of my invention. It is carried by rollers e at opposite sides of the bed, and depends'below the trough 0. 'Motion or progressive travel may be imparted toit continuously in one direction by these rollers, and

the rollers may be connected by a chain, c, passing around wheels 011 their shafts, and motion may be imparted to one roller by a belt andpulley or other means. When this apron is used, it constitutes a moving or traveling surface'on which the mass of articles is entirely supported.

The heater B is secured by bolts b to a crosshead, B, having upon its ends wrist-pins b, to which are fitted connecting-rods B operated from cranks b on a shaft, B which is supported in bearings d at the top of the end frames, D. Rotary motion may be imparted to the shaft B by a belt driving onto fast and loose pulleys B B and by the mechanism described the beater has imparted to it a rapid reciprocating movement of definite range or length.

The hat-bodies or other articles to be operated on are placed within the bed A in suitable quantity, and the beater B acts upon the mass with rapidly-delivered blows of definite range and force. In order to regulate the range of motion and striking force of the beater, as may be desired to suit the quantity or mass of articles in the bed or the varying condition of such articles, I have represented the boxes b ,which receive the wrists b on the beater cross-head B, as fitted to and adjustable in slots 1) in the connecting-rods B and capable of adjustment by screws 6 By lowering the boxes b the length of the cross-head is increased andthe beater B is made to approach and deliver its blows nearer the bed, and by raising the boxes in the connectingrods the opposite effect is produced. It is also sometimes desirable to cause the beater to deliver its blows nearer one side of the bedthan the other, and at other times to deliver its blows opposite the center of the bed and the center of the mass of articles thereon. To accomplish this I provide for adjusting the cross-head B transversely to the width of the bed. I have here shown the cross-head Bas provided with end portions, B, which are fitted to slideways d in the end frames, D, and the cross-head B may be adjusted laterally in such sliding end portions, B, by screws 7).

In Fig. 2 I have shown the beater B as adjusted to deliver its blows near one side of the bed A, and as having its lowest projection on the side nearest the side of the bed. The action of the beater in this position on the mass of articles on the bed will produce their rotary motion or the rotary motion of the mass, and such movement of the articles will be greatly assisted by the travel of the apron E.

In some cases I may desire to employ a beater, B, having a concave face, as shown in Fig. 5, and to cause this beater to operate centrally on'the mass of articles on the bed. The cross-head B may then be adjusted laterally toa position over the center of the bed and the concave beater B (shown in Fig. 5) secured thereto. The beater thus arranged will operate on the mass of articles opposite the center thereof, and most eflectively,especially during the later or last stages of the fulling or felting operation, and the apron E then insures the rotary motion of the mass of articles, which is necessary to bring new surfaces into position to receive the successive blows of the beater. The beaters may have any shaped face desired, and may be lagged or otherwise ribbed or roughened to secure most effective operation. The apron or cloth E may also be lagged or otherwise roughened, so as to impart its motion by its travel to the mass of articles in the bed.

In order to prevent the elongation of the mass of articles in the bed I may make the bed and beater A B, either or both of them, concave in the. direction of their length, as shown in Fig. 1.

In case the longitudinal concavity of the bed A be found to interfere with the running or travel of an apron, E, wide enough to extend from end to end of the bed, a number of narrower aprons or belts arranged side by side may be substituted.

To reduce the frictional resistance which would be opposed to the rotary motion of the articles by reason of their crowding against the ends of a fixed trough or bed, I have represented rotary disks f as arranged at the ends of the bed, and as provided with shafts or pivots f, which are free to turn in bearings f in the ends of'the bed. The disksf may be supported at the back by anti-friction rollersf as best shown in Fig. 4, and they may 7 therefore turn freely with the rotary motion of the mass of articles.

If desired, I may at any time envelop the mass of articles upon the bed by a cloth or fabric by introducing the edge of such cloth or fabric between the traveling apron E where it enters on the bed A and the mass of articles above it, and by the combined action of the movement of the apron and the blows of the beater the cloth or fabric may be drawn in and wrapped tightly around the entire mass of articles. The cloth so applied may be allowed to remain during any desired part of the fulling operation, or may serve as a convenient means of removing the entire mass of articles from the machine. I prefer, however, to leave the hat-bodies in a loose and free state, and not enveloped in any bag or cloth during the principal part of the felting operation, as then free opportunity will be afforded for the hair'which has little or no felting property to work out from among the fur or other fiber which has great felting properties.

It will be understood that by the use of the machine above described I can graduate the hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting such articles to rapidly-delivered blows of definite range and force while they are supported by a bed or surface, and in increasing or diminishing by adjustment the distance from the bed at which the blows are delivered, as may be best adapted for the varying size of the mass of articles under treat ment, substantially as herein described.

2. The improvement in theart of felting hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting the mass of articles to rapidly-delivered blows of definite range and force while supported by a bed or surface in the direction of the blows, and while confined at the ends to prevent elongation of the mass, substantially as herein described.

3. The improvement in the art of felting hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting the mass of articles to the direct action of blows while entirely supported by a moving surface, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

4. The improvement in the art of felting hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting the mass of such articles to blows while in a free or loose state, and while supported upon a moving surface, substantially as herein described.

5. The improvement in the art of felting hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting the mass of articles to rapidly-delivered blows while supported by a surface having a progressive travel, substantially as herein described. V

6. The improvement in the art of felting hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting the mass of articles to rapidly-delivered blows of definite range and force while the entire mass of articles is supported by a moving surface, substantially as herein de scribed.

7. The improvement in the art of felting hat-bodies and other articles consisting in subjecting the mass of articles to rapidly-delivered blows while supported upon a concave surface having a progressive travel, and in introducing between the mass of articles under operation and the said concave surface a cloth or fabric which is caused by the traveling surface to pass around and envelop the mass of articles, substantially as herein described.

JOHN T. WARING. 

